New Zealand Rugby announces Governance Review panel

The panel will be chaired by professional Director David Pilkington, alongside fellow professional Director Anne Urlwin, Former All Blacks Captain Graham Mourie, and prominent Māori business and governance leader Whaimutu Dewes. They will undertake a comprehensive review of NZR’s governance structures, process and organisational capabilities.

The review comes as the Silver Lake private equity agreement, which was confirmed in June this year, changed the way NZR operates as a business and resulted in the establishment of the New Zealand Rugby Commercial (NZRC) entity. The panel’s overriding objective will be to assess whether NZR’s constitution and governance model is fit for purpose, and what, if any, actions need to be undertaken to ensure the NZR Board is best placed to lead through future challenges and opportunities.

The Review Panel will begin their work immediately with the first phase including a call for submissions from both rugby stakeholders and the public. Key rugby stakeholders will be contacted directly regarding the submission process. Input is welcome from any other interested organisations or individuals through a public survey link (here) from today.

Terms of Reference and further information on the review process, the panel and a timetable can be found here. 

The submission phase will be undertaken through the first quarter of 2023, and it is expected the Review Panel will deliver its final recommendations, which will be made public, by the end of August 2023.

NZR Chair Stewart Mitchell said:

“We are committed to ensuring the game is best placed for the future, and this process will assess the suitability of the current structures, and what, if any, changes are necessary for future and sustainable success. In that regard, we have brought together a highly experienced panel of governance experts to undertake this exercise.  We are confident that the high calibre of the panellists and their diverse backgrounds and experience will bring a valuable lens to the governance of rugby. We trust they will be thorough in their review and have our full cooperation as needed throughout the process.

“We encourage all our stakeholders and people involved in rugby around the country to engage with this process to help the panel build a comprehensive view of the current state of the sport. We look forward to receiving the panel's recommendations in our pursuit of governance best practice and delivering a world-leading sport that all New Zealanders are proud of.”

Review Panel Chair David Pilkington said:

“Rugby holds a special position in New Zealand and the recent private equity agreement with Silver Lake gives NZR an opportunity to leverage significant investment opportunities and in turn, ensure the sport is resourced effectively to be successful into the future. Alongside my very experienced panel, I am looking forward to undertaking this comprehensive review of the National Sporting Organisation’s administration and governance of rugby.”